The Distinguished Achievement Award is being presented to the Institute for Exploration which is establishing a new field of research utilizing
evolving technology, such as advanced mapping and imaging systems, underwater robotics, and remotely operated vehicles that are highly
beneficial to the exploration geophysics industry and marine geosciences. An additional objective is to share Robert Ballard’s most recent discoveries
with millions of young people through his various outreach activities which include the Mystic Aquarium and the JASON Project.

With support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Office of Naval Research, and the National Geographic Society,
the Institute for Exploration has engineered systems designed to operate up to a maximum water depth of 3000 meters. These new underwater
systems use cables with optical fibers to transmit video and other signals up to the control ship on the surface. These devices include Angus, an
optical imaging towsled; Echo, a dual-frequency side-scan sonar and sub-bottom profiler; and Little Hercules, an imaging ROV.

Robert Ballard is a true exploration geophysicist, who has
investigated the earth’s oceans with great energy, enthusiasm
and innovation. He was born in Kansas in 1942, but his family
moved to San Diego, where he found his life-long love of the
ocean and its exploration. After gaining majors in geology and
chemistry and minors in physics and mathematics at the
University of California, he had an illustrious career in the U.S.
Navy (he is now a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve). His
naval service was followed by graduate school, and in 1974 he
obtained a PhD in marine geology and geophysics from the
University of Rhode Island.

While serving at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
in the 1970s, Ballard quickly became the leading scientist in
the application of submersibles to the study of the ocean
floor. With characteristic drive, he led Project Famous to
explore the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and mounted and
collaborated in a number of other deep-dive expeditions with
the use of submersibles. This culminated in 1977 in the
stunning discovery of hydrothermal vents on the Galapagos
Rift, a finding that is fundamental to our understanding of the
chemical evolution of the oceans and the origin of
polymetallic sulfide ore deposits. In order to accelerate deepsea
exploration, Ballard developed ANGUS (Acoustically
Navigated Geological Underwater Survey), a submersible
camera system that could be towed close to the ocean floor
for long periods and collect thousands of images.

Ballard quickly realized that the tools he had helped
develop in the Deep Submergence Laboratory at Woods Hole
had applications far broader than earth science. Here emerges
the geophysicist-explorer, who has the vision to exploit the
new technology to really open up the hidden secrets of the
deep—which he has done particularly in the field of nautical
archaeology. But Ballard has continued to break the mold in
more ways than one; he rapidly realized that remotely
operated vehicles were faster, safer, cheaper and much more
efficient than the manned submersibles. The quick succession
of discoveries—Titanic, Bismarck, Lusitania etc.—launched
Ballard in orbit as the premier spokesman of marine science in
the eyes of the general public. He reasoned that if you can
replace the view through the tiny porthole of the submersible
with a much better live image on a high-resolution monitor in
the ship’s lab, then you could take this one step further and
transmit the live image worldwide to allow the rest of
humanity to share in the excitement of the moment of
discovery on the ocean floor. Telepresence, as Ballard is apt to
call it, could also bring the adventure and excitement of
science and exploration into the classroom. Thus was
launched the JASON Project, beginning with an expedition in
the Mediterranean in 1989, and continuing annually ever since
with resounding success. No other effort has done so much to
excite youngsters about science and stimulate their curiosity
about the way in which the earth works, giving millions of
young students the opportunity to participate in the study of
the earth. A tiny fraction of them may become scientists in the
future but, most important, they will all carry with them and
recall in later life the sense of excitement about scientific
discovery and exploration.

In 2002 Robert Ballard became a professor of
oceanography at the University of Rhode Island and set about
to establish a new research program and a program in
graduate education in archaeological oceanography. Thus
began the latest and perhaps the most important chapter in
his odyssey of ocean exploration: developing a graduate-level
academic program that is devoted to the use of geophysical
exploration tools and oceanographic techniques to
investigate the wealth of human cultural remains scattered
over the floors of earth’s oceans. He is now in a position to
pass on his unique knowledge and experience to young
graduate students who will continue the legacy he has created
in this important field of geophysics.

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